Flexible packaging has long been used to package products such as books, compact discs, cassette tapes, and a host of other types of objects to provide protection when shipping or mailing the objects, and in some cases to hermetically seal the objects from the outside environment. Web-handling machines have been developed to automate the process of packaging objects in flexible packaging materials. Dual-web machines bring a pair of webs into generally parallel confronting relation with each other and feed a product, or a group of products, between the webs. At a downstream sealing station the webs are sealed together around the products(s), thus forming a package containing the product(s). The package is severed from the remainder of the webs to complete the process. Single-web machines work similarly, except a single web is either supplied to the machine as a C-fold, or a flat web is manipulated and folded into a C-fold configuration, the objects to be packaged are inserted between the two opposing portions of the C-folded web, and one longitudinal seal and two cross seals are formed.
Web-handling machines are typically configured to operate in a continuous mode or a manual mode. In the continuous mode, a web-handling machine constantly runs and drives webs of material from supply rolls through a nipping station, thus packaging any product that is placed between the webs. The continuous mode is often used when there is a continuous stream of products being placed between the webs to be packaged. Usually the continuous stream of products is delivered via an automatic conveying system. Conversely, in the manual mode, an operator typically engages a selector switch, such as a cycle button. By activating the cycle button, the machine is caused to operate through one cycle, wherein one product or set of products and portions of both webs are advanced through the nipping station to form a package. For example, packaging machines of a similar type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,895,732 and 6,971,221, assigned to Sealed Air Corporation.
One previous drawback of some web-handling machines was material waste due to a break in a continuous stream of products when operating in the continuous mode or due to operator error when operating in the manual mode. A second drawback was inadequate sealing at the edges caused by misalignment of the product. More recent web-handling machines have incorporated infeed gates and product detectors for detecting the presence or absence of a product to be packaged, the length of the product, and the height of the product. These infeed gates and product detectors were incorporated to solve the aforementioned problems. For example, an infeed gate orients the leading edge of the package in a parallel plane with the nipping station, thus locating the product in the proper orientation and improving the quality of the seal because the product is not skewed toward one of the sealing edges. Additionally, the infeed gate and product detectors also provide a control unit with a signal indicating the absence or presence of a product and the location of the product, allowing the control unit to begin or end the supply of web material, thereby reducing waste material. When a product is detected the infeed gate is lifted allowing the product to advance through the nipping station. Simultaneously, the web material is advanced and then sealed to form a package around the product. When no product is detected, the process is halted.
Even with the incorporation of infeed gates and product detectors, typical web-handling machines produce only standard packages and lack the ability to add special features to the packaging, such as features for ease of opening, aesthetic value, or re-use of the packaging.
As a result, there remains a need for a device for incorporation into a product packaging system that is capable of facilitating additional features to the packaging that will improve the ease of opening, aesthetic value, and re-use of the packaging. The device should be relatively simple and should be adaptable for incorporating into existing web-handling systems.